Storage systems may be used in different conditions, which place different performance requirements on the memory in the storage system. To account for these different conditions, memories in some storage systems can be operated in a “normal” mode or in a “burst” mode, in which a higher-than-average performance by the storage system is required to satisfy a higher-than-average number of write commands from a host controller. For example, in some storage systems, the burst mode may be capable of supporting a storage rate of 160 MB/s for 4 GB (e.g., when raw video shot by a camera is sent to the storage system for storage), while the normal mode may support rates of up to 80 MB/s for 12 GB. To achieve the higher-than-average performance and provide high throughput in burst mode, the storage system can store data in single-level cells (SLCs) instead of multi-level cells (MLCs), as writing to SLC cells (X1) is faster than writing to MLC cells (e.g., X3).
To trigger burst mode, a host can send a request or other indication to signal that the storage system should switch to burst mode. However, in many environments, the host does not provide such an indication, and the storage system needs to manage the transition to and from burst mode autonomously. A storage system may infer burst mode by monitoring the data transfer rate over an interface from the host, and if the throughput is above a first threshold, a transition to burst mode may be performed. Similarly, terminating burst mode and transitioning back to normal mode may be done when the transfer rate is below a second threshold. As another technique, the storage system may “sniff” the interface and infer from a header of incoming data if the data is of a type that is suitable for burst mode (e.g., video or data in an mpeg format).